CHICAGO -- An alleged fraud scheme perpetrated by a California investment firm has led to the "biggest financial scandal in the state of Iowa's history," according to state Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald.

The Securities and Exchange Commission last Wednesday got the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California to freeze the $1.2 billion of assets managed by Irvine, Calif.-based Institutional Treasury Management after charging that the firm had committed fraud in the handling of $75.4 million of investors' funds, including $65 million from one account.